The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested 402 people during routine operations across the capital over a 24-hour period, while 50 cases were filed during the same timeframe, according to a police statement issued on Saturday (3 October).
The figures were disclosed in a statement sent by Mohammad Akhtar Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of the DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division.
The arrests were made in different parts of Dhaka by several DMP divisions, along with the Detective Branch (DB). Among the city’s police divisions, Mirpur recorded the highest number of arrests, with 105 people taken into custody.
Motijheel followed with 61 arrests, while police in Tejgaon arrested 56 people. A further 45 arrests were made in Wari, 42 in Lalbagh and 38 in Uttara.
The Ramna division arrested 30 people, while 23 were taken into custody in Gulshan. The Detective Branch reported two arrests.
Police also recovered a range of weapons, ammunition and suspected illicit substances during the operations. The seized items included one foreign-made revolver and five rounds of ammunition, along with seven machetes, four ramdas and one pair of pliers.
A substantial quantity of suspected drugs was also recovered. Police seized 8,996 yaba tablets and 35 grams of cannabis, as well as five cans of beer. Three mobile phones and one battery-powered auto-rickshaw were also recovered during the raids.
The DMP said the operations were conducted in various police station areas of the capital as part of its regular law-enforcement activities. The drives involved searches and arrests linked to different cases, with police also collecting various items as evidence.
The distribution of arrests across the city shows that the operations were carried out in multiple DMP jurisdictions. Mirpur accounted for more than a quarter of the total arrests, while Motijheel and Tejgaon were also among the areas with comparatively higher numbers.
However, the police statement did not provide individual details of the allegations against those arrested. It also did not specify which recovered weapons or other items were associated with particular suspects.
The DMP said legal proceedings against the arrested individuals are in progress. Further details concerning the cases and the recovered materials are expected to emerge as the relevant legal procedures and investigations continue.
